No Way Out

by David Kessler

  “Okay,” said Alex. “But how does a computer choose a random number in the first place? I mean isn’t everything in a computer mathematical and deterministic.”

  He was remembering things that his son had told him.

  “It uses something called keyboard latency.”

  Alex was looking at her blankly.

  “That means the speed at which the person at the keyboard types. What the software does is get the computer operator to type on the keyboard at random. It ignores what keys they press, because that might not be random, but it measures the time between keystrokes – or rather the differences in microseconds between one keystroke and another.”

  “Okay.”

  “But it doesn’t take the whole figure, it takes what it calls the least significant bit. That means like the last digit on the list of microseconds – that’s millionths of a second. Then the program uses this random input as the seed or initialization vector for the randomization algorithm that calculates a number between – in this case – one and two hundred and fifty.”

  Andi paused to catch her breath. Alex paused to take it all in.

  “But none of this explains why blacks are under-represented in this case,” said Alex.

  “That’s exactly my point. If the software does its job properly, then they shouldn’t be. But all the stats I’ve looked at show that they are. That means that something’s going wrong.”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t know. But the judge did say causal evidence or statistical evidence. This is clear statistical evidence!”

  “I don’t think we have enough to take it before the judge.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because if she rejected it once then she’ll reject it again.”

  “But it’s different now! Then it was just one panel. Now it’s across the state for the last five years.”

  “That’s going to make it even harder.”

  Andi was surprised at this.

  “Why?”

  “Because if you tell her this, then any decision she makes will have implications for thousands of other cases, not just this one. And I don’t think she’s going to want that sort of responsibility. She’d rather leave it to the Court of Appeal instead of taking it on her own head.”

  “So what are we going to do? Just drop it and walk away like we haven’t discovered anything?”

  “No but we’re going to need to bolster our arguments.”

  “How?”

  “By finding some causal explanation for these stats.”

  “And how are we going to do that?”

  “That’s what I was hoping you could tell me.”

  Andi thought about this for a moment.

  “Maybe if we could find some glitch in the software.”

  “Do you have the skill for that?”

  “Probably not. I mean I actually tried to learn programming in C++, but I kind of… dropped out of the course.”

  Alex pursed his lips.

  “If it is a software glitch, I think I may know some one who can help.”

  “Who?”

  “My son, David. He’s a physicist at Berkeley. Get his number from Juanita and call him. Tell him you’re working for me.”

  “For you?”

  “With me.”

  She rose, resignedly but didn’t leave the room. She just stood there saying nothing.

  “Was there anything else?” he asked.

  Now was the time to tell him about “Lannosea”, to ask him if he had told anyone about their private conversation when he and Sherman had pressured her into sitting at the defense table. It should be simple enough to tell him about the messages and ask him if he had any idea who could be sending them. But something made her hold back and she wasn’t sure what.

  “No, nothing,” she said, realizing that now was not the time. When she opened the door, Juanita was standing there with a sheet of paper in her hand, poised to knock. Alex looked up as Juanita and Andi slipped past one another.

  “We just had an eMail from Leary,” said Juanita.

  Leary was the private investigator they’d hired to dig up some dirt on Bethel Newton.

  “What does it say?”

  She approached the desk and put it down in front of Alex.

  “He’s found some dirt on the Newton girl. This isn’t the first time she’s made a rape accusation.”

  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 – 12:40

  “The prosecution will show that Elias Claymore is not the respectable man that he poses as,” Sarah Jensen was saying. The sea of faces in the spectator’s section of the courtroom on Tuesday reflected the interest in this case that had lingered beneath the surface for the last two months.

  They had been told all about Elias Claymore’s background by the newspapers and broadcast media when the case first broke. Some of them were old enough to remember Claymore from his revolutionary days. But much of what they had been told by the media had faded from their memories. A spate of political crises, tornadoes in the mid-west, violence in the Middle East and stories about wife-beating among the Hollywood glitterati had driven the tales of Elias Claymore from their minds.

  Sarah Jensen knew that she was not allowed to bring up Claymore’s priors unless he took the witness stand in his own defense. But her reference to him not being as respectable as he seemed, was a cunningly camouflaged reminder to the jury of Caucasians, five Hispanics and three Asians of what they all already knew.

  “You will hear testimony to this effect from the victim herself – the girl whom he raped, who will identify the defendant as the man who raped her. You will hear medical evidence of her internal and external injuries proving that this was rape and not consensual sex. You will see photographs showing the girl’s external injuries, so that you will be able to judge with your own eyes whether the girl was a willing participant or an innocent victim. You will hear eye witness testimony of a man who saw the accused running from the scene of the crime towards his car in which he made a quick getaway. Finally, most irrefutable of all, you will hear scientific DNA evidence showing that the man who raped Bethel Newton was none other than the accused, Elias Claymore.”

  Sarah Jensen sat down, keeping her face completely neutral. Alex knew that she had ended her opening statement too close to one o’clock for the judge to let the defense respond now. This ensured that the prosecution’s summary of its case would stick firmly in the minds of the jurors over lunch. It was the oldest trick in the book, and Alex had expected it. But there was very little he could do about it. He just had to pace himself right too, making sure that his own bombshells coincided with the appropriate adjournments.

  Four hundred miles away, Eugenia Vance sat before a television set watching the proceedings on Court TV.

  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 – 15:40

  After lunch, Sarah Jensen began presenting her case. Andi had been curious as to the order in which she would call her witnesses. In the event, she adopted a fairly conventional approach and called Bethel Newton first. Her approach was gentle, putting Bethel at ease by leading her through the non-contentious events leading up to her encounter with the rapist: the car breaking down, the Mercedes stopping and the man giving her a ride. At all times, Bethel testified in a voice that was quiet but not weak.

  “Then he dragged me out of the car, behind the bushes, and clamped his hand over my mouth. I managed to bite him but then he slapped me across the face. I felt a sharp blow and then I could feel blood in my mouth and I realized it was futile to struggle.”

  “And then what happened?”

  While she paused to compose herself before answering, Andi quickly scribbled a note to Alex saying: “we need to ask her if she knows my eMail address.” Alex looked at her blankly. Andi still hadn’t told him about “Lannosea”. But she knew that she could hardly expect him to probe this area, and risk the judge’s disapproval , without offering him at least some explanation. So she added to the note, the words: “I’ve been getting abusive anon E-m
ails.” He seemed to take it in very quickly and did not look altogether surprised. He nodded his head gently, as if understanding.

  “He started tearing away at my clothes, not so much tearing them off me, more pulling them out of the way. Then he unzipped his pants and pushed them down slightly and then...”

  She started to cry. Everyone in the courtroom sat in absolute silence while she pulled out her handkerchief and sobbed into it.

  “Take your time Miss Newton.”

  “And then he raped me.”

  “How did he penetrate you?”

  “Vaginally,” she said, in a little girl voice, trying to keep the words barely audible. “From the front,”

  “And do you see the man who did this in this courtroom.”

  The words seemed to have a toughening effect on her, as if she sensed the opportunity to regain control for the first time in her life. She puts her handkerchief away, no longer crying. Then she leaned forward and looked over at Claymore.

  “Yes I do,” she said pointing at Claymore. “That man over there.”

  “Let the record show that the witness identified the accused Elias Claymore,” said Sarah Jensen.

  “So ordered,” the judge responded.

  Sarah Jensen then went through a series of questions to put on record the events that happened afterwards: Claymore running away and driving off, a member of the public calling the police, the medical examination, the DNA sample, the photographs. All of these would be introduced at a later stage. But these questions were to establish foundation for their introduction.

  At the end of the sequence of questions, Sarah Jensen looked over at the judge and said “no further questions.”

  Then she sat down, trying to look sad or at least solemn, rather than triumphant. Andi noticed that Justice Wagner was looking over at the clock. It was five fifteen. She had done it again! She had timed it perfectly to coincide with the afternoon adjournment. That meant that once again the jury would leave the court with elements of the prosecution’s case locked firmly in their minds. This time it was the girl’s tearful testimony, and they would have the whole night to think about it.

  Andi had been sure that Sarah Jensen was going to spin out the direct examination for longer, to wring the maximum amount of detail out of Bethel Newton so as to elicit the maximum amount of sympathy. That would still have left Bethel’s testimony in the jurors’ minds. But somehow it would not have been so damaging if they knew that there was more to come.

  But with the direct examination over, the jury would feel free to start forming opinions about the case, and that could only hurt Claymore. The judge started speaking.

  “In view of the hour, I think it would be appropriate –”

  “Your Honor,” Alex interrupted leaping to his feet. “I know that we only have a quarter of an hour, but I would like to at least start my cross-examination now –”

  “Is that really necessary Mr. Sedaka?”

  “There are one or two points I’d like to clear up right away.”

  “Very well.”

  “Miss Newton have you at any time, since first making your complaint, contacted anyone involved with the defense?”

  Oh very good, thought Andi, plant the idea in the jury’s mind. Even if it all fizzles out, it’ll keep them pre-occupied with it now, so they won’t think so much about her testimony.

  Sarah Jensen was on her feet.

  “Your Honor, is counsel making any specific allegations? Or is he just trying to cloud the issue with unsubstantiated allegations.”

  “Approach the bench!” snapped the judge.

  Alex and Sarah approached. Andi hesitated for a moment and then approached, ignoring the forbidding stare of the judge. Only Nick Sinclair stayed in his seat.

  “Are you going anywhere with this Mr. Sedaka?”

  “Your Honor, my co-counsel has been receiving anonymous eMail messages of an abusive and harassing nature. We wouldn’t for one minute suspect the prosecution of involvement, but this witness is another matter altogether.”

  “How do you know it isn’t one of the thousands of whack jobs looking for his fifteen minutes?”

  Alex turned to Andi, to let her answer.

  “Your Honor, the content of the messages suggests that it’s some one with intimate knowledge of the case.”

  “Knowledge that only this witness or some one on the prosecution team would have?”

  Andi hesitated for a moment, embarrassed by the truthful answer.

  “Well, some of the knowledge… appears to be.. things that not even this witness would know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Private conversations that I’ve had.”

  Sarah was shaking her head, smiling with utter contempt. Justice Wagner ignored her.

  “So what are you saying? That your office is bugged?”

  “I don’t know what I’m saying. It just doesn’t make sense.”

  The judge was silent for a few seconds, as if weighing up what she had just heard.

  “Well when you do know what your saying, I may revisit the issue and allow the defense to resume this line of questioning. Until then, such questions are out of order.” Andi, was looking at the floor, unable to meet the eyes of either the judge or Alex. “I think we’ll adjourn for now.”

  When they had returned to their places, Justice Wagner addressed the jury.

  “Members of the jury. You will ignore that last question and refrain from any speculation about it. We will now adjourn until ten O’clock tomorrow morning. The jury are admonished not to form an opinion on this case until they have heard all the evidence and the case has been put to them, nor to discuss this case among themselves or with others or to permit it to be discussed in their presence. Court is adjourned.”

  They all stood up as the judge left. But Andi remembered one thing from when Alex had asked the question about contacting anyone on the defense: Bethel Newton had looked absolutely terrified.

  Tuesday, 18 August 2009 – 17:10

  Outside, Alex walked over to Andi’s side to speak to her.

  “I want to know about these anonymous eMails – including why you didn’t tell me about them before?”

  “I’ve had a couple. The first one right after I agreed to serve as co-counsel. The second one came just after I blurted out my statement about the ethnic imbalance in the panel.”

  “What did they say, the eMails?”

  “Like I said, they were full of abusive language. I can’t remember verbatim, but I’ve saved them. I can show them to you back at the office.”

  “You said something about the writer knowing intimate details that not even the victim would know.”

  She noticed that he had said “victim” rather than “alleged victim.” He would never have been that careless in Court.

  “Whoever sent them seemed to know about things that happened at our private conversations.”

  She was watching him carefully as she said this.

  “What do you mean ‘our’ private conversations?”

  “Yours and mine. Things that occurred when you and I were alone together.”

  “Such as what?”

  “Such as you practically blackmailing me into working with you on the case.”

  “I didn’t blackmail you - .”

  “That’s the way they described it.”

  Andi realized that by classifying this opinion as “intimate knowledge” she was effectively saying that she agreed with that classification of Alex’s action.

  “What else did they say?”

  “They said I should have resisted your pressure and that I’m a ‘whore’ and Claymore is a ‘nigger scum-bag’.”

  “And it was anonymous?”

  “More or less.”

  “Well what does that –”

  “It was signed ‘Lannosea’”

  “Does that mean anything to you.”

  “Nothing.”

  “Did you look it up?”

  “Yaho
o and Google. Apparently, she was one of the daughters of the old English queen Boudicca.”

  “I assume you did an internet search for other people with the same name?”

  “I found four sites where the name came up: two foreign, one meaningless, one that gave the answer – about it being Boudicca’s daughter.”

  “Alternative spellings?”

  “Loads of results, but mostly foreign.”

  “What about tracing the source – of the eMails?”

  “They were sent via a webmail account.”

  “From what my son told me, I understand they can still trace it through the message header.”

  “Yes, but anyone sending this kind of message would probably use a public computer, like in a library or an internet café.”

  “They might have security cameras at places like that.”

  “We’d have to bring in the authorities for that.”

  “Okay, let’s hold off on that Andi.”

  “The thing I don’t get is how they knew about private conversations.”

  Alex was looking at her with a skeptical smile.

  “You think they really did bug the office?”

  “It may sound crazy Alex, but there has to be some explanation.”

  Alex smiled, mockingly.

  “Well in that case, I’d better tell you what I’ve decided before we get back to the office.”

  “What?” Andi felt apprehensive at Alex’s tone.

  “You’re going to conduct the cross-examination tomorrow.”

  Wednesday, 19 August 2009 – 9:10

  Jerry Cole had never really amounted to much. At forty years of age, he was a lean, nondescript figure of average height and receding hairline. Such hair as he had was greased back, not in a stylish nineteen fifties style, but more in the manner of a lazy man who doesn’t want the bother of unruly hair and who uses grease as the easiest option for keeping it in place.